Mock trials backed for a better view

November 30, 2003

LAKE COUNTY — Worried about how lawyers are depicted in movies and on television, Lake County Circuit Judge Victoria Rossetti wants more local high schools to participate in mock trial competitions to try to change the often-negative image.

"There's all kinds of TV shows and movies about the law," Rossetti said. "It portrays lawyers rather poorly."

Every spring, the Illinois State Bar Association sponsors a mock trial invitational for high schools. But of the 60 high schools that regularly compete, only two--Mundelein High School and Carmel High School in Mundelein--are in Lake County.

Rossetti would like schools to get their feet wet and participate in an upcoming mock trial invitational sponsored by the Lake County Law-Related Education Initiative and the Lake County Juvenile Officers Association. The event will be held in February.

The skills that students develop in preparing for a trial will help them throughout their lives, Rossetti said. And it also might help reshape their opinions about lawyers, she said.